Project Spider: Subject Menma
by Mockery Of Humanity
Summary: Sarutobi wasn't the first to find Naruto and his parents. Orochimaru did and decided to do an experiment using their blood and some spider's. The end result was Menma, the survivor of Project Spider. Clone Menma. Menma has Anti-Venom.
1. Chapter 1

A crying baby could be heard on a dark night, surrounded by flames and rubble and beside two bodies. One of the bodies belonged to a woman with fiery red hair with purple eyes wearing a white blouse under a green dress, that was bloodied with a large stab wound in her stomach area.

The man had tan skin with blonde hair that framed his face and had cerulean blue eyes. He had on the normal Konohakagure jonin uniform, though he had on a white haori with flames on the bottom and kanji on the back of it, though it was covered with blood by a stab wound like the woman.

The baby itself had a plump face like the woman signifying her status as his mother. He also had blonde hair, tan skin, and blue eyes, showing his relation to the man.

"Kukuku...What a shame this is." A voice commented, walking closer to the crying baby. The voice belonged to a pasty white man with ink-black hair that was waist-length and some strands covered his golden, snake-like eyes with purple markings.

Orochimaru walked closer to the crying baby and pulled out several vials and a syringe. 'I would take the brat himself, but then sensei would hunt me down.' He convinced himself.

While he believed himself to be stronger than Sarutobi, the old man could still give a run for his money and possibly even take the Snake Sannin down, even with his old age.

The Sannin shook himself out of his thoughts as he prepared the syringe and stabbed into Kushina's dead body, doing the action several times to collect the ex-Jinchuriki's blood for his next experiment.

He finished taking the redhead's blood sample before plugging the vials.

Orochimaru gained an annoyed look as he plunged the syringe into the blonde baby, causing him to scream in pain as his blood was placed into several vials.

The Sannin furrowed his brow as he took a closer look at the vial, seeing it had a reddish aura. 'Oh my! Minato sealed the Kyuubi within the brat!' He pieced together.

The brat's Kyuubi riddled blood would allow for his project to be a Pseudo-Jinchuriki, allowing it to be empowered with roughly a tail's worth of chakra.

Orochimaru plugged the vials of Naruto's blood and quickly sealed all of the equipment he used. He quickly got up and retreated, turning back and saw his sensei finding the latest Jinchuriki and his dead parents. 'I would say hello, but I must complete this latest experiment!' He thought as he quickly ran towards the safe house where he would do the latest experiment.

* * *

A slam against metal could be heard followed by a, "Damn it!" originating from Orochimaru. The main reason being is that for the past few weeks, his latest experiment, Project Spider, wasn't coming to fruition.

The primary reason for failure was the deaths of previous subjects. The cause of death was the rejection of the spider genetic implementation, resulting in a quick death.

The Snake Sannin narrowed his eyes as the vat in front of him was emptied, ready for the next attempt. 'Hmm, the Uzumaki genes refuses to let the imprint happen. If I could-That it's!' He realized with a grin and quickly called for Kabuto.

"What is it Orochimaru-sama?" The ex-spy asked while pushing up his glasses.

"Well, Kabuto-kun," The Sannin began. "I need you to retrieve some of subject Shin's DNA." He ordered cryptically.

Kabuto was confused as to the request, but nodded and quickly left the room. He quickly returned with a vial of blood in hand.

The sannin quickly grabbed it from his assistant and returned to the console. He injected the DNA into the console along with the remnants of Naruto and Kushina's.

He then turned his attention to the monitor and saw the genetics being synchronized. The end result was being 50% Kushina, 45% Naruto, and 5% Shin.

The fallen Sannin grinned as he the vat started to create the clone from the genetic material. He turned to face Kabuto, ordering, "Watch for any changes and inform me when it is complete."

The grey-haired shinobi nodded as Orochimaru left the lab.

*Week Later*

Orochimaru entered the lab after Kabuto had reported that the clone had survived and reached the designated age of three.

The Sannin smiled as he gazed upon the figure floating in the vat. The figure was a three-year-old child with red hair with black strands within. The child had faded whisker marks on his cheeks, along with extended canines jutting out of his mouth. He also had talons on his fingers.

"Kukukuku...It finally succeeded!" He declared. "But it will need a name...Menma shall do." He decided.

* * *

Reddish-purple eyes with slitted pupils blinked within darkness as their owner stood before a door that had yet to open. The owner had red hair with several black strands that slightly spiked out with several bangs hanging down in front of his eyes. He also had pale skin due to not ever seeing the sun. He had on a white jumpsuit with no shoes, showing off his poorly kept feet.

'When the hell is this trial going to get on?' Menma thought annoyed. This was pretty much the best part of his day, outside of sleep. The general schedule of his day was wake up, trial, possible experiment, lunch, and then going back to his cell. It was rather boring, but he couldn't do much about it.

Nothing much under his "master" Orochimaru! He didn't care what the pedophile said, he was not his master!

The red head's thoughts were interrupted by the grinding of the door in front of him. He shielded his eyes as the bright light within pained his sensitive eyes.

He let his eyes adjust and quickly stepped into the room, showing itself to be a white room, with an observation deck situated above to the left of Menma.

"Hello, Menma-Kun!" Orochimaru called out, the speakers carrying his voice. "I hope you ready for the latest experiment!"

Menma just sighed while replying, "I don't have a choice. Remember dumbass?" That earned a low tone growl. "So what oh so scary buggers will I be facing today?" He asked while turning his attention to the opposing door.

"Oh, since you've asked nicely, I'll show you." The Sannin responded while the other door began to open, revealing a group of three prisoners. "You three! Defeat the child and your freedom shall be granted!" That earned cheers from the group.

"Oh wow," Menma began. "It's going to be so difficult to kill these fecks. Thank you so much Orochimaru-sama!" He said sarcastically.

"Do try and have some fun Menma-Kun," Orochimaru told him. "Now begin!"

The group began to circle around him, with what he guessed was the leader taunting him with, "Come on brat! You too scared to fight us?"

Menma just sighed and pushed his bangs up. "You group are a bunch of pussies, right? Is that why you're so scared to attack a nine-year-old like me right?" He insulted.

One of the prisoners got aggravated at the insult and rushed at him, aiming for a sloppy punch. The attack was sidestepped and felt something stab into his stomach, before being kicked away.

Menma retracted his stinger into his forearm as the prisoner fell over, clenching his gut. He quickly pressed his middle and ring finger down, causing webbing to shoot out with a 'Thwip'. The webbing quickly reached its target, attaching to the prisoner.

He attempted to pull it off but only resulted in his hands/arms being stuck. Menma grasped the webbing with one hand and with surprising strength, sent him flying closer to him.

He would have gone for the kill but was caught by the leader of the group in a headlock. "Guess your not to tough, huh brat?" He taunted Menma while he chocked him.

He responded by opening his mouth and biting down with his fangs ready. The leader yelled in pain and released Menma, who licked the blood off his fangs. The prisoner gazed down at his arm where the bite happened and saw the area around it to rot.

He proceeded to feel pain like nothing else and fell over, scratching at the wound in an attempted to stop it. "You having fun with necrosis?" Menma asked while he stood over him with a mocking grin.

"Yo-you bastard!" The prisoner yelled through the pain as the rot began to climb up his arm.

Menma gained a surprised look. "How dare you!" He said before the look was dropped. "I'll have you know I have no father." He commented before gaining an annoyed look as the man started to scream in agony. "Now you're being disrespectful. Hope necrosis reaches your brain before the rest of your organs. Cause that's going to hurt like a bitch."

He walked over to the still trapped prisoner, who was giving a look of fear. "I would play with you but your friend just ruined it for me. So bye!" He told the prisoner, who was about to speak but wasn't able to get a sound out of his throat before Menma slashed open his throat with his talons, causing blood look leak out and splash onto his face.

The clone licked the blood off his face and gained a sadistic smile. 'It always tastes delicious.' He thought as he wiped off the blood on his face, causing his bangs to fall in front of his eyes.

"Good job Menma-Kun," Orochimaru complemented. "Your-"

"I don't care." Menma rudely interrupted. "I'm just going back to my cell." He walked over to the door where he entered and was about to walk in when it grinded close quickly.

"No, you will not brat!" Orochimaru declared with anger and irritation in his tone. "I have decided to bring you to heel!"

Menma just looked at the observation deck with a bored look. "Really? How? Cause the grunts you're feeding me is starting to get a bit drab."

"Perhaps then you will like this," Orochimaru said before Menma heard a hissing. He looked around to see the vents to see a gas was leaking in. He began coughing and losing consciousness. The last thing the clone heard was Orochimaru cackling.

* * *

Menma groaned as unconsciousness left him. He looked to see he was in a lab and strapped down with shackles attached to his wrists and ankles. He also noted that his jumpsuit's upper part had been removed showing off the various scars he had gained from the various experiment he had been in.

He started to try and break out but quickly stopped when Orochimaru entered his view, wielding a syringe with a white substance within it.

"So good to see your awake Menma-Kun." He commented while walking closer to Menma's side.

"Always a good night sleep with drugs." He commented snarkily. "So what's on the menu today? Injections? testing my healing factor? Or is it time for another cutting session?"

"Oh, no Menma-Kun." Orochimaru clarified. "I'm bringing you to heel. As I said before."

"Oh yay," He began with a roll of his eyes. "Time for a Curse Mark." He realized. He really didn't want to be a bitch, but it didn't seem like he had any choice.

"Good to see your not that stupid." He commented. "Time for your medicine!" He declared as he stabbed Menma's arm with the syringe, with the substance going into his bloodstream.

"Ow! That hurt sooo-Hugh!" Menma's sarcasm was interupted as he threw up a white substance that started to cover his body as it spasmed and jerked around.

Orochimaru looked on with curiosity as Menma's form broke the shackles and collapsed to the ground, with most of his body being covered with the white substance with black marking in the form of a spider.

After a few minutes, he stopped jerking around and began heaving, earning a smirk from the Sannin, who believed the Curse Seal worked.

"Who am I?" He asked the hunched over Menma, believing that his will was dominated by his own.

He didn't expect Menma look up with pure red eyes and yell, "A dead man walking!" He quickly slashed with extended talons. Orochimaru quickly ducked under it but was tackled by Menma.

He responded by turning into various snakes and escaping Menma's grasp and pinning him down with the Kusanagi ready to kill him. "Looks like you are still too weak." He mocked earning a feral growl from Menma.

The clone attempted to lash out but was felt himself becoming weaker. He let out a defeated sigh as the white substance retracted back into his body, but left the black markings.

The end result was the Curse Mark settling onto his chest as a large black spider with the top left and right legs extending up to his Adam's apple. The second set crept up his arms and went down to his wrists. The third mearly arched down, joining with the last set going down his legs, ending at his ankles.

"I'm going to kill you." Menma declared between pants, earning a condecing smile from the Sannin.

"I'm going to have to train you to do that." He revealed, causing Menma to be surprised, though it was hidden. The snake summoner quickly summoned two guards to take back to his cell.

"I hope you realize you're making your own killer." He warned the Sannin, though was waved off.

"The snake eats the spider in the wild. That is the way of nature." He told his future sensei.

'Unless that spider can cause necrosis, thus taking down the snake.' Menma thought darkly as he was hauled off to his cell.

* * *

Menma has a mixture of Miguel O'Hara and Kaine's abilities.


	2. Chapter 2

Menma smirked as he ran through the open field he found himself in. It had been a month since he had gotten his new Curse Mark, which he had personally dubbed Curse Seal of Symbiosis. During that time, he had gotten in better condition and teaching himself various subjects.

As a 'reward' for surviving the Curse Mark, Orochimaru allowed him to get new clothing.

The end result was black combat boots with grey soles with grey ANBU style pants covering the tops of them. He also had on a black long sleeve with opening for his stingers and spinnerettes with white lining. There was also white ANBU armor for his shins, shoulders, chest, and upper arms, with the chest piece having a black skull-esque spider mark on the front. He also gained a pair of tinted angular glasses with no frames on the lower half of the lenses, with the lenses themselves having sharp angles for the bottom edges.

He was currently somewhere around the Land Of Grass. He was with Kabuto as a way to keep the clone on a tight leash. A more literal leash was the black band around Menma's neck, inscribed with various seals. This was Orochimaru's answer for his disobedience. The band would cut off his chakra and shock him into unconsciousness while sending a signal where he was.

"So what the hell are we doing here Kabuto?" The survivor of Project Spider asked while they ran through the field.

"Did Orochimaru-sama not tell you about the mission?" The ex-spy asked while pushing up his glasses. "I suppose I'll inform you. We are here to visit a base situated in Kusa." He told as the older teen slowed down. "In fact, we are close by."

Menma followed suit, slowing to a brisk walk. He looked to see a semi-what steep hill with a stone stairwell entering the bowels of the earth. "That's good. I'm going to look around town." He told the ash-haired teen.

"Hmm...Fine, just be ready to depart on my command." Kabuto ordered. He didn't really care what Menma did, as long as he knew who was the leader of the Op.

"Why geez! Thanks, Kabuto, I feel my hatred for you declining!" He responded in a sarcastic manner, before walking above the hill to see a small village roughly 2 miles away. He pumped chakra into his muscles and along with his natural speed due to his inscribed spider genetics, he reached the outskirts within three minutes.

After slowing down, Menma walked around with his hands in his pant's pockets. He was what he assumed the town square, due to it being bustling with various people and shops. 'Ain't this a quaint place.' He thought to himself. 'But it seems kinda boring for my taste.' While Menma had nothing but hatred for Orochimaru, he wouldn't want to be a villager or something like that. Too boring for his taste and not enough blood.

His belief about the village being boring was tested when a random villager ran into him. "What was that for!" He asked, causing the man to turn around to face him.

"You don't know about the freak?" He asked incredulously.

"Ah, yes. The Freak." Menma quickly said. "What exactly makes them a freak?'

"Tch, it's because she summons minerals from the skin of Gaia! She disrupts the goddess of the village!" He told the adolescent boy. "We're going to finally rid her from the village!"

"Oh my, that's quite interesting." Menma voiced. "I'll be sure to steer clear from her from now on." Earning a nod from the villager, he quickly turned on his heel and returned to his original route.

"Huh. I guess I have something to do." He decided as he quickly looked around to see no one was looking at him. He quickly spun out a web and pulled himself to a nearby roof.

The clone quickly looked around to see the same villager and began following him from the rooftop. The villager eventually joined a large mob on the outskirts of town, causing Menma to jump from rooftop to rooftop. The said mob was stopped by a pink crystal wall. On the other side was a blue haired girl with a spiky ponytail and bangs framing her face around the same age as himself. She was wearing a short-sleeve teal kimono with a grey turtleneck with a green rope belt and red shorts, light purple, and blue sandals. She had her hands raised as if she summoned the crystal wall.

"Now I'm really interested." He told himself. The ability she showed started to pique his interest. "Time to be a white knight." Menma commented to himself as he began to get a running start and jumped over the wall.

* * *

Guren's eyes darted around as the mob started to break down the crystal wall she had summoned. She never understood why the village hated her. She thought it had something to do with the Children of Gaia, the local religion of the village. It pretty much forbid the use of Doton jutsu. And with her Shoton being an advanced form of Doton, she was heavily ostracized by them, often times being attacked, though her crystals usually protected her from harm, though the number of people in the mob might be too much for her.

Her eyes landed on a shadow falling closer to her. She looked up to see someone jumped over the crystal wall. The figure landed and Guren saw it was a boy around her age. He had red hair with black strands in a messy fashion with several bangs covering tinted angular glasses. "Hey" He greeted her casually.

"Uhm...Hi?" Guren asked slightly weirded out at the boy's random entrance and casual introduction. "What are you doing here?" She questioned the boy.

"I heard an interesting rumor about a 'monster' and wanted to see what she was," Menma responded. "And I don't really see a monster anywhere." He admitted with a shrug, earning a confused look.

"What-you don't think I'm a monster?" Guren asked confused. "Why don't you? I disgraced the Mother!" She cried out.

He just rolled his eyes. "Enough with that sob story." He told her. "You don't really believe in that shite, do you?" He asked.

"That's what I've been told for all my life. You think it's wrong?" She asked the clone.

"I doubt we have time to debate, but if you want to believe that you want to die. Be my guest." He then thumbed the mob of villagers, who had started to break fully through her crystal wall. "They're more than willing to oblige your belief." He said while stepping aside with his hands behind his head.

The villagers started to surround Guren, causing her to cower in fear. "Please don't let them hurt me!" She cried out in fear in hope Menma heard and would save her.

She felt herself be picked up and started to be dragged away. That changed when she felt something sticky attach to her back and pull her somewhere.

Guren looked up to see Menma had pulled her to him by something out of his wrist. Something came out of his forearm that was used to cut the sticky substance from her back. "I recommend standing back." He commented as he started to walk towards the mob. "There's going to be a splash zone." He finished with a psychotic grin.

Guren nodded before Menma began to speed off and jumped, entering the fray of the mob. He slashed, stabbed, and webbed his way till all of the villagers were dead.

Guren watched on as Menma slaughtered the group that tried to kill her and felt a mixture of ecstasy and admiration for him. After all, the clone saved her when she thought she would be killed and went a step further and decided to kill them all. 'I will follow you, with you as my master.' She decided for herself as Menma finished off the group.

Menma casually walked over a body of the same village he had met before Guren. He found it pathetically easy since the town they were in was farming, filled with mostly civilians. He soon looked down and realized that he was covered in blood and sighed. It was a pain to get it out of his clothes and it wasn't like the old jumpsuit that he really didn't care about.

He pondered for a moment before wanting to try something. He activated his Curse Seal and let it cover him for a fraction of a second before letting it retract, showing off the now clean clothes and armor. 'Huh, that's a useful trick.' He thought to himself before starting to walk to Guren, who was still standing on the sidelines. "So, how was the show?" He asked as he reached her side.

Guren hesitantly nodded. "They deserved it." She decided with slight venom in her tone. "What happens now?" She asked the webster.

Menma hummed in thought. 'I can't believe I'm doing this.' He thought to himself before speaking. "Would you like to join up with me and my boss?"

Guren instantly grabbed his arm. "I'm guessing that's a yes." He asked dryly, earning another nod. "Alright, let's get going. I'm meeting up with a subordinate of 'Orochimaru-sama'!" He said his name with a sarcastic tone.

Guren looked confused about his sarcastic tone but decided not to ask as they began to walk outside of the town, instead saying, "I'm Guren. Who are you?'

"I'm Menma...Menma Uzumaki." He told her. He really didn't have a last name, but he was mostly Uzumaki and decided to use it.

Guren nodded. "Of course Menma-Sama." She said as Menma smirk.

'Fuck yea! I got a subordinate!' He cheered internally as they left for the hidden base.

* * *

Menma sighed as he and Guren walked to the top of the hill. He looked down to see Kabuto was outside along with a girl also around his age. She had red hair with one side was short and spikey on the right and long and straight on the left. He raised an eyebrow at the girl as he walked down the hill with Guren still attached to her arm.

"Ah, Menma-Kun," Kabuto called out as said clone walked closer along with a blue haired girl attached to her arm. "What have you've been doing and who is that next to you?" He asked.

"Oh, you know. Found a town trying to harm Guren here." He shrugged the arm Guren was holding onto. "And being the good samaritan I am, I slaughter all the bastards that tried to hurt her. And know she's going to be joining us." He listed off in one breath.

"Ah! How could I not figure that out." Kabuto said sheepishly. "She isn't the only one joining us though." He revealed, causing Menma to give a strange look. "This is Karin Uzumaki."

The Karin girl had brown glasses with red eyes. She walked closer to Menma with unfocused eyes as if inspecting him. "You feel...violent and cold. Yet there is warmth hidden deep within you." She told him while drawing closer to him.

"Oh yay." He commented snarkily. "Nice to know."

She shook herself as she focused and blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, your chakra is very large for someone of our age and that caused me to focus on you." She explained. "So who are you?" She asked curiously.

"Today is just presentation day isn't it?" He muttered under his breath. "I'm Menma Uzumaki." He introduced himself, earning a gasp from Karin.

"You're.. a...Uzumaki?" She asked with bated breath. He nodded and was soon knocked down by a cheerful Karin, bringing along Guren to the ground. "I thought I was the only one left!" She cried out. "I'm not alone!" She buried her self-deeper into his armored chest.

'This is my life apparently.' He thought to himself. This was probably the weirdest day of his life. He went on his first mission, saved Guren, and met someone from his supposed clan. "All right you mind getting off me?" He asked Karin.

She looked up and quickly sat up, with Menma getting up and assisting Guren. "So we're distant family? Neat." He commented. "So what precisely is the deal with you tagging along?" He asked her.

Karin was about to reply, but Kabuto answered for her, "She will be joining us at Orochimaru-sama's side. That is all you need to know for now." He told Menma.

"Geez. Ruin the suspense spoil-sport." Menma said. "But let's get going. Eh leader?" Kabuto nodded and began to leave, with Karin, Guren, and Menma joining him.

* * *

It was nightfall when the group stopped for the night somewhere in the Land of Fire. Since then, Menma had taken off his glasses and clipped them to his shirt, occasionally banging hitting his obedience band. He was sitting on a log with a fire roaring closeby, sitting next to Guren and Karin, Kabuto having gone to sleep in the safety of a tree.

"Hey, Menma-san?" Karin asked, earning his attention. "Why did you take off your glasses? I thought you needed them to see as I did."

Guren looked curious as well as he replied, "It's quite the opposite actually." He grabbed said glasses. "I have precise and sensitive eyesight. Enough to the point where I kinda have night vision. Though the sensitivity makes it so that sunlight actually hurts. My glasses help with it."

"So you're saying you can see perfectly!" Guren asked surprised. "That's really useful!"

"I suppose." He voiced. "If we're trading abilities, how about you two tell me about some of yours." He suggested.

"I'll go first." Guren voiced. "You've seen my...ability." She hesitated to say the last part, causing Menma to snort.

"It fucking stupid that you deny your abilities." He told her. "You've got one hell of an advantage over others. Use it. Look at me. I pretty much solely use my stingers, talons, and webs. And you've seen what they can do."

She smiled slightly before nodding. "Thank you Menma-Sama." She said before starting again. "I'm able to create and shape crystals that are hard to destroy. They can also convert the ground and water into them." She finished before taking in a sharp breath of air.

Menma whistled at how she described it. "That sounds damn powerful." He said. But it could become rather redundant" He mentioned, earning odd looks from the two girls.

"What are you talking about Menma-Kun?" Karin asked. "Kekkei Genkai are valuable resources!"

"The Shinobi way is becoming stagnant Menma stated, earning confused looks from the girls. "We have multi-shot guns and cannons! Yet we use kunai and swords like it's the medieval age. I know chakra provides a boon, yes. But the civilians are eventually going to develop ways to fight off ninja. Snow Country already has." He finished.

So what can you do, Karin?" He asked his clansman.

The redhead nodded. "I'm able to sense chakra to a high degree." She said while adjusting her glasses. "It's why I reacted like I did the first time I met you. I...also have a healing bite." She said, causing them to look confused.

Karin fidgeted before pushing up her sleeve, showing several faded bite marks."If people bite me, their chakra is restored at the cost of mine." She explained before sliding her sleeve down.

"That seems rather dangerous," Menma said. "I wouldn't recommend using that cause that could drain your chakra and leave you easy prey." He explained.

"But...It's the only way I'm useful. I'm not a fighter." Karin weakly excused.

"And?" He asked. "You can improve your skills. You could probably ask Kabuto to help you. He's one hell of a medic. Helped create me." He explained.

"What do you mean by-Wait! there are people coming closer!" She warned the group, causing them to get up from the log. "There's three chunin!" She said.

"Where's Kabuto?" Guren asked the sensor. "He could probably take them down easily!"

"I can't sense his signature!" Karin cried out.

"Screw it. We'll have to make due!" Menma decided, taking care of the situation. "Get behind me and follow my lead!" The girls nodded before getting behind his back and in combative stances.

The trees began to rustle as three Konoha-nin came out wearing standard shinobi gear of Konohakagure. "Stop!" One shouted. "You are trespassing! Let yourself be detained and brought back for questioning!" He ordered.

"How about no," Menma replied. "Now you mind sodding off?" He asked apathetically.

"Very well. Detain them!" The leader ordered and the two chunnin by his side dashed forward with great speed. Though Menma was able to see them easily.

The chunin to the left pulled out a kunai and attempted to stab Menma, though the clone fully extended his left stinger and countered it. Menma quickly headbutted the chunin and slashed at him with his other hand, talons at the ready.

The talons slashed at the man's face, causing him to recoil in pain, giving Menma the opportunity to tackle him to the ground. He noticed he was close to the fire and quickly grabbed the chunin's hair and forced them into the fire, earning an agonizing scream as he pulled them out, the chunin being nearly dead.

Menma looked down at the charred chunin and was spat on. He growled as he slashed at the chunin's neck, causing blood to squirt out.

Blood was splattered on his face when he turned to see another chunin was closing in on Karin. He attempted to scramble to stop him but was intercepted by the leader of the squad.

Karin was about to be taken down by the second chunnin but was relieved when the chunin was encased in pink crystals.

Guren quickly helped her up. "Thank you." Karin thanked.

The blue haired girl rolled her eyes before replying."Just try to be useful." She said bluntly.

Karin looked down, dishearted before Menma's voice cut through her sadness. "She was actually very useful Guren." That earned a confused look from the girl and a more happy look from Karin. "If she didn't sense them, then they would've taken us down and taken us to wherever they're from." He explained.

"Of course. Sorry for my outburst Menma-Sama." She apologized before turned to Karin. "And my apologies for my callous attitude."

"No problem." She waved it off. "But what happened to the leader?" Karin asked as she turned to face Menma, only to see he was once again covered in blood with the mangled corpse behind him.

"We played checkers." He told them. "I won and he ragequitted." He wiped the blood off his face. "Eck! I like blood and all, but it's a pain to get out of clothes." He complained before he summoned his Curse Seal to clean himself.

"Menma-Sama?" Guren asked. "What precisely was that? I saw you summon it before."

"It's my Curse Seal." He said simply, earning only confused looks. "It's a boost to my powers." He explained quickly as he stared at the trapped chunin. "Now what to do with you?" He asked out loud.

"I have a suggestion Menma-Kun." A voice called out. The three turned to see Kabuto walking towards them, the fire displaying his shadow on the trees.

"Where have you been?" Menma asked. "We've been dealing with some unruly guests." He pointed to the corpse of the two chunin he killed.

"I was observing you three see how you performed together." The ashen-haired teen said. "Not bad, but could have been better."

"I'm sure we can do a group therapy session." He replied snarkily. "Would you like to play the shrink?"

"Hmm..sure." He agreed. "But I think we should take the hostage to Lord Orochimaru." He suggested with a push of his glasses.

"Alright then." Menma decided for the group before moving closer to the trapped chunin. "Guess the roles are reversed aye? Hope you like being dominated instead of being the dominator." He motioned for Guren, who nodded and forced the crystal to cover the man's face, not allowing him to retort.

Kabuto walked in front of the crystal prison and sealed it within a scroll and stashed it. "I suggest that you all get some sleep." He said to the group as he started to walk back. "I shall be sleeping." He told them before going away.

"I'm going to hit the hay as Kabuto suggested," Menma announced. "Would you two like to join me. We can share body warmth." He jokingly explained, not really expecting them to agree. Well maybe Guren due to her following him.

"Of course Menma-sama." Guren voiced. Menma nodded as he expected her too, but was surprised when Karin also nodded.

"I would like to get closer to you Menma-Kun." She explained as she pushed up her glasses.

'Wow, I was not expecting that.' He thought to himself before shaking himself out of his thoughts as he put the fire out with his webbing. "Let's get us a sleeping spot then, girls." He told them as he walked around, looking for a large tree. He eventually found one with a large trunk and branches jutting out. He got a small running start and jumped on with feet on the trunk. He quickly got a good distance up and landed on a large branch with one of similar girth close by.

He began webbing the logs, forming a hammock made of webbing. He walked down the trunk part way before aiming a web at a branch above him, acting as a sort of rope for Karin and Guren.

He waited for a few seconds to see Guren jump onto the branch, with Karin being second. "Welcome to my home." He welcomed them sarcastically as he jumped on the web hammock, landing with it slightly jumping. "It's perfectly fine! Jump on!" He assured them by slamming it a few times, proving its durability.

Karin and Guren carefully climbed down on the webbing and laid down beside him. "Let's get some shut-eye, you two." He told them as he closed his eyes but felt Karin tapping on his shoulder, causing him to open his eyes and stare at her.

"I've been meaning to ask. Why did the Chunin back there seem so easy to fight off?" She asked the clone, causing Guren to also sit up in attention.

"It's because we were underestimated." He informed. "I highly doubt an untrained group consisting of an orphan who can't use her Kekkei Genkai, a genetically modified clone, and a medic that pretty much cannibalizes herself could take down a group of Chunin. We were more valuable alive then died."

"Oh, thank you Menma-Kun!" She told him as they laid back down and they soon began to dream.

* * *

Menma groaned as he stood in front of Orochimaru sitting in a throne with Kabuto kneeling and Karin and Guren behind him. "Kabuto-Kun and Menma-Kun," The Sannin began. "I see you complete your mission and brought along another. Who is she?' He asked.

"I'll let Menma-Kun explain. He is the one who found her." Kabuto said, dragging him under the bus.

Menma rolled his eyes. "I was in a town and found her about to be killed. I killed them all and saved her." He explained. "Now she's with me."

Orochimaru thought for a moment before grinning. "Good. She'll be part of your team." He told them, much to their shock. "You will be Team 7 of Otokagure. Congrats." He voiced.

"We kinda need a sensei to be a team," Menma told him, earning a chuckle from the Snake Summoner, who held his arm out in a presenting manner.

"I'm your sensei." A stoic female voice called out of the darkness as a clacking of wooden sandals drew closer. A woman around nineteen came out into view. She had an eyepatch over her left eye with her lone eye being brown. She had her black hair in a ponytail. She wore a white coat with red trim and grey sides. Underneath the coat was a blue kimono with black socks and wooden geta. She had a sheathed katana strapped to her waist.

"I present you Kyuubei, the daughter of Mifune and his ex-student," Orochimaru explained.

Kyuubei was born at the tail end of the Third Shinobi War and was personally taught by the leader of Iron Country. While growing up, she grew disillusioned with the samurai way and began to practice shinobi techniques, eventually becoming on par with a Jonin. She eventually left in disgrace and being disowned by Mifune at the age of sixteen. She traveled around, learning more about shinobi techniques and the way.

She grunted as she walked in front of the group of children. "Listen up. You will be participating in the Chunin in six years as part of Orochimaru's plan. Until them. I will be refining and training you. We shall be living together, training together, and becoming a unit." She told them.

"Kukukuku. I hope you four will have fun! You are dismissed." Orochimaru announced. Kyuubei nodded and her new team began to leave.

"Remember about the prisoner, Kabuto!" Menma told the ex-root member as they left via the doorway.

Kabuto patted himself down as he left the view of Menma as they walked down the subterranean corridor. "So how did a samurai get mixed up with the exiled Sannin?" He asked Kyuubei as he walked by her side.

"Simple, he pays me. Now I'm your sensei." She told him simply. "And I am not a samurai."

"Ah but you think like a samurai." He interjected. "You were brought up by one and you still think like one, even if it's a small amount."

"Whether or not I do is none of your business." She told him with a small glare. They stopped in front of a curved doorway. "Here are our living quarters." She told them as they entered it.

They found themselves in a mixture of a living room and a dining room, with a small kitchen separated by a bar. The walls of the entire place were a stone grey, seemingly carved with the use of Doton jutsu. They walked down a small hallway with four doors, two on each side. "These are our bedrooms and bathroom to the close left You may personalize them however you want." She told them. "But we shall be going to sleep. Good night." She took the far left room and shut the door behind her.

"But there are only two rooms left," Karin complained. "Do we have to share?" She asked her teammates.

"You two are sharing." Menma explained as he started to walk to the far right room. "I'm getting a room for myself." He stated selfishily.

"What!/Of course Menma-Sama." The two girls said at once. Menma didn't listen as he ignored them and went into his new room, closing it behind him and observed the room he now had.

It was sparsely decorated, though Menma would change that soon enough. There was a bookshelf built into the wall, with a dresser, cupboard, and a bed.

Menma sighed in content as he laid on the bed, stripping his armor and clothes off and switching them for shorts and a grey shirt. 'This is much better than a wooden board strapped to a wall.' He thought to himself as he began to drift off to sleep.

* * *

Kyuubei is from Gintama. I included her because I've been binging it. Her personality will be different than her actual self, being ruthless and stern, but not overly so.

Oto Team 7 is a reflection of Team 7 from Konoha. Menma is a darker version of Naruto. Karin is planned to be a competent version of Sakura. Guren was ostracized for her Kekkei Genkai, instead of being welcome like Sasuke. Kyuubei is going to be a ruthless samurai/ninja hybrid who fights dirty, unlike Kakashi who's pretty honorable and lazy.


	3. Chapter 3

Menma, Karin, Guren, and Kyuubei were in a large cave-like training ground. With Menma reading over a small black book, with Guren closeby and Karin and Kyuubei standing relatively close. "So what are we doing today teach?" Menma asked as he got up and shut the book and pocketed it.

"We'll be finding out your Chakra Natures." The ex-samurai revealed as she held in her right hand three pieces of paper and began passing them out. "Send chakra into them and they'll reveal your Chakra Natures."

The kids nodded and all sent chakra into their individual paper. Guren's paper began to turn to dust. Menma's crumbled and cut itself. Karin's light ablaze and got soggy.

"How interesting," Kyuubei muttered. "You cover all of the 5 basic natures, with two of you having contradictory natures. It'll be difficult to train you two due to me having wind chakra myself, so train yourself in your natures." She recommended to them. "But for now, you'll be practicing chakra control." She motioned for them to follow her to the closest wall.

They watched as Kyuubei walked up the stone wall with chakra being poured into her feet. "Apply chakra to your feet to stick to the wall. Too much and you destroy the ground beneath them and you'll fall." She began to walk back down. "Too little and you just don't attach."

"Alright. Let's see how well we do." Menma said as he was the first to climb. He attached to it with no problem and started to walk around.

'Huh, thought this would be harder for me.' He thought to himself. He knew that his chakra reserves were extremely large, essentially rivaling kages due to the assimilating some of the Kyuubi's chakra present in Naruto's blood, But his chakra control was abysmal.

"You're doing it wrong." Kyuubei cut into his thoughts. "You're not channeling chakra into your legs. So how are you doing it?" She asked him.

The clone jumped down with a flip. "I haven't got a damn clue to be perfectly honest." He admitted. "I just kinda..do it."

While Menma had to consciously use his stingers, webbing, and talons, but his wall-crawling was just something that he was able to do.

Kyuubei clasped her chin in thought. "This will be more difficult for you. If you try and use chakra walking, you would just be wasting chakra." She explained. She knew the clone had a ridiculous amount of chakra, possibly even more than her, but he could burn through it without good control.

"Though Guren and Karin seem to have a better grasp at this than you brat." She said with amusement with her tone.

He turned to see Karin and Guren were easily able to do the exercise with ease, with Guren having slightly more difficulty than the future medic Karin.

"Do I even need to do the exercise since I can just do this without chakra?" He asked slightly irritated. As far as Menma was concerned, he could easily fight without the Tree Walking Exercise, since his spider abilities naturally covered it.

"Yes," Kyuubei said sternly. "You can't rely solely on your non-chakra based abilities. And besides, you're doing this so you can get better control over your chakra. Though," She trailed off before deciding something.

She walked over to the running Guren and Karin and gave them an order, "Keep doing that till you run out of chakra. Let yourself get your chakra back, then repeat." The two nodded to their sensei and returned to running to improve their control.

She walked back to Menma and motioned him to follow her. The went to a different part of the training ground. "Since you're unable to train with the Tree Walking Exercise, you'll be training with wind manipulation." She told him as the stopped walking.

"How the hell will learning to make a breeze increase my control?" He asked the ronin.

Kyuubei turned her head and locked eyes with him. "Wind manipulation requires the shaping of chakra in order to cut things. That'll improve your control over it." She explained as she placed her hand on the ground, forcing chakra into it.

Several circular disks made of grey stone raised from the ground, each on top of one another. She handed Menma one from the top. "Use your chakra to cut this in half. Visualize your chakra as a blade cutting it." She recommended. "I'll check in with you in an hour." She began to walk back to Karin and Guren to see their progress.

Menma looked at the stone and began to ponder. 'Hmm, She said to visualize it as a blade. How the hell do I do that?' He thought. 'I guess to make it sharp or something.' He began pressing his chakra down, attempting to make it sharp.

He looked down after roughly five minutes and saw he had sawed through the stone disk. He grabbed another and attempted to it again.

By the time Kyuubei returned to check on her student, he was roughly halfway done with the stack. "I see you've made progress." She stated the obvious.

"Yup. Kinda difficult at first. But managed to figure this out." Menma said as he finished off another one and grabbed two instead of one.

"You've gotten farther than I did when I started Wind Manipulation." She complemented the clone as he was halfway done with the two disks, but stopped when Kyuubei complemented him.

"Thank you...Sensei." He thanked genuinely, without his usual tone of sarcasm, earning a small smile from Kyuubei "And not that I'm going to bitch or anything, but don't you think it's a bit much to teach me wind manipulation?" He asked her as he began to cut the stone disks once more. "We're only nine and haven't even gone on a mission."

"Who cares," Kyuubei told him. "We need to take out our enemies quickly and take any advantage we can take."

"Makes sense." He admitted, seeing the logic in her reasoning. "We doing anything else?" He asked.

"You three could improve your coordination." She admitted. "Kabuto said you three weren't that good when you took on that team of Chunin."

"Ya, how surprising." He responded. "A group of mostly untrained nine-year-olds who barely knew one another couldn't properly coordinate. Yet we managed to take them down." He finished with the two stone disks.

"You can finish your manipulation training later," Kyuubei told him. "We're going to have some spars." He nodded while finishing off the disks he had grabbed.

They walked back to Guren and Karin, both of whom were covered in sweat and panting. "It's not that hard to do is it?" Menma asked his teammates.

"Yes Menma-Kun, not all of us have the natural ability to stick to walls," Karin told him with a tone of sarcasm in between pants.

"Ah! But it's such a useful ability." He told them. "But, we've got to get some sparing." He gained a maniacal smile. "Hope you two can keep up with me."

"I shall try my best Menma-Sama," Guren told her master with noticeably less panting than Karin. "But who are we facing? Shall we be fighting one another?"

"No," Kyuubei told them. "You'll be fighting against me." She revealed as she pulled out some pills and tossed them to Karin and Guren. "Those are Hyrogan pills. They'll replenish your chakra." She informed them as the consumed the pills.

They immediately felt their energy return to them, filling them with energy. "Why doesn't Menma-Kun have to take one?" Karin asked.

"That's because I didn't expend much of my chakra." He informed. While the Wind Manipulation did take some chakra to do, he learned to use it decently with his overly large chakra pool. "And I'm pretty sure we sure as shit cannot take you down sensei." He told Kyuubei.

"Of course you won't take me down. This is to improve your coordination with one another." She informed them as she thumbed her katana. "Now prepare to fight!" She declared as she suddenly performed an Iajutsu, causing the kids to roll out of the way.

"Any idea guys?" Menma asked the girls as the landed next to one another, a decent length away from Kyuubei.

"I could possibly trap her with my crystals, Menma-Sama," Guren informed. "But she'll see it coming. We need a distraction."

"I'll provide the distraction," Menma informed, as Guren nodded. "Karin will help me." The said redhead nodded before she saw Kyuubei was dashing towards them.

"Look out!" She screamed as Guren and Menma noticed and quickly moved out of the way, dodging a thunderous sound as her blade hit the ground, causing a shockwave due to the force behind it. Menma ran towards her with Karin close behind.

Kyuubei smiled as they tried to take her down, with Menma leading the charge and Karin backing him up. 'But where is Guren?' She thought to herself as she dodged a straight punch from Menma and slapped him with the dull edge of her blade lightly. Well lightly for a jonin level ninja. He was knocked back slightly. "Ah! A distraction. Not a bad idea brat, but you'll have to try harder than that!" She told them.

The webster growled as he was forced to change his plans. He shot out some webbing and attached it to the ground and pulled hard. The webbing pulled out a giant chunk of the earth and Menma swung it at Kyuubei.

She merely smiled at the attempt while pulling her blade out, coating it in wind charka and increasing the cutting force. She quickly swung at incoming bolder in a flurry, causing it to fall apart.

Menma was on his knees and took a deep breath as he saw the boulder be slashed apart. "Fuck!" He swore under his breath as he forced himself to his feet to roll under a strike from his sensei. 'What the hell is Guren doing?!' He thought to himself. He saw Karin was behind Kyuubei, preparing a makeshift sneak attack with a kunai. She gave a warcry as she charged with the blade, intent on taking down her sensei. She smiled slightly as the blade nearly hit Kyuubei, but soon became disheartened as she was replaced with a log and felt herself be hit in the back of the head, causing her to be unconscious.

Menma saw as his teammate slipe into unconsciousness, a bruise forming where their sensei had hit her. Kyuubei quickly grabbed Karin and laid her down slowly. She stood back up and made her way to Menma. As she made her way to him, she felt stuck in place. She looked down and saw her legs being anchored to the ground by pink crystals. "Not good enough, Guren!" She announced as she grasped her sword and cut the crystals.

Menma quickly moved out of the way of Kyuubei's sword and quickly retreated, eventually getting to the side of Guren. "What is the plan, Menma-Sama?" She asked as Menma panted.

"Uhmmm...Summon an unstable crystal wall in front of Kyuubei-sensei." He quickly planned before dashing towards his teacher.

Guren did as he asked and created a crystal wall a few feet in front of Kyuubei, who was wondering what they were planning.

"Ah!" Menma shouted out as he kicked the wall. With it being specifically unstable, it shattered, sending shards in the direction of Kyuubei. Said sensei's eye widened briefly before grasping her blade and slashing quickly and precisely, deflecting the dozens of shards coming towards her.

Menma groaned as he laid on his side, tired from the constant effort. While he had an abundance of chakra, he was burning through it quick and highly doubted Kyuubei was particularly trying. "Good attempt guys, but you look worse for ware. Do you give up?" Kyuubei offered.

Menma growled as he hated giving in, but knew he was outmatched. "Alright, we give." He said as he turned himself on his back, staring into the subterranean celling. He laid like that for a few moments until Kyuubei came into view and offered a hand. He narrowed his eyes as he forced himself up, too stubborn to allow himself help.

He forced himself on his legs to see his sensei gave him a small smile. "While I wasn't going full out, I was trying. So good job." She complimented.

Kyuubei was genuinely impressed by her team's first fight together. While they couldn't full coordinate properly, they at least gave it a good attempt and pushed her to use wind coating on her sword. Though Karin was somewhat useless when it came to the fight, being more suited for a medic. 'Maybe I could get Kabuto to teach her some techniques.' She thought to herself.

"So how was the performance?" Menma asked snarkily, with Guren walking closer to him.

"I'm somewhat disappointed by your coordination." She admitted, earning a frown from Menma and Guren. "Though considering this was your first spar, I won't hold it against you. And I was impressed by Menma's planning skills." He smirked at that. "And Guren's usage of Shoton." Guren smiled at that. "But Karin was...less than impressive." She said.

"She sucked is what you're trying to say," Guren said bluntly. "She wasn't useful in the fight and was knocked out." She continued as Menma began to the redhead's unconscious form.

Kyuubei sighed as she realized Guren's words rang true. Karin wasn't able to properly sync with Menma and Guren like they were able to. "I know I wasn't useful." Karin's voice called out, being shouldered by Menma.

"But I refuse to be useless to this team." She said with determination flaming in her eyes. "I'm willing to learn sensei."

"Good to know that you won't be stagnant," Kyuubei admitted. "I'll see if Kabuto would be willing to assist in your training." Her face soon became stern. "Though all of you lack a proper style when it came to taijutsu."

"So is that what we'll be doing for the rest of the training session?" Guren asked her sensei.

"No." She told them. "Menma and Karin are too fatigued to continue with physical practice and Karin herself is possibly concussed." She knew she was being slightly soft on them, but she knew that they were children. If they were injured or push too far, they couldn't properly grow in a physical and psychological sense.

"You said physical practice." Menma pointed out. "What else are we doing?"

"You particularly are going to be trying out Fuinjutsu." She revealed. "Since you are an Uzumaki, you'll have a natural disposition towards it."

"I can't," Menma told her, earning a confused look from Kyuubei. "You know about this collar?" He flicked the metal band around his neck, causing her to nod. "This thing is a leash for Orochimaru to pull. So if he tells me to jump, I say fuck you and then jump."

"Hmm..." She hummed while thinking. "I guess we'll focus on something different. Like sensing perhaps."

"So Karin's going to be learning from Kabuto on healing and becoming a combat medic and I'm going to be learning to be a sensor?" He surmised, earning a nod from the daughter of Mifune. "So what's Guren going to be doing?" Said girl looked to Kyuubei in anticipation.

"I know how to mold chakra into Doton even if I'm not naturally aligned, so I'll try to help her form her crystals in more ways." She told them. "You'll be joining us if you progress with wind manipulation." She thumbed her blade as she continued. "And I'll be teaching you three personally taijutsu and kenjutsu." Kyuubei was an ex-samurai and wanted to teach the way of the sword to her team.

"All right." Menma agreed with a grin. "This is going to be fun!" He adjusted the shoulder Karin was on, though was surprised when she separated herself from his shoulder, standing on shaky legs.

"Though we'll continue training at a later time," Kyuubei said. "As of right now, we'll be taking time off."

"Hmm, alright, but I'm still going to practice my wind manipulation." Menma voiced as he walked over to the half-completed stack of rock disks. "I want to see if I can finish them off within the hour." He told them as he began to take the disks by threes.

"Very well Menma." Kyuubei agreed. "Just don't overextend yourself." She was waved off as he was focused on cutting the disks. "Guren. Take Karin back to our sleeping quarters so she can rest."

The blue-haired girl reluctantly did as she was told, taking Karin off her shaky legs.

They walked down the hallway when Karin spoke up, "Guren-san?" She turned her head to see the redhead. "Why do you...dislike me?" She asked.

"I do not dislike you," Guren told her, earning a surprised look. "I merely wish for Menma-Sama to have the best teammates. And you do not suffice. I belittle you so you realize that you are heavily flawed and weak and so you can improve and create new skills." She explained as they entered their living quarters and they got closer to their shared room.

"Oh," Karin said surprised as Guren opened the door, showing their room. It was similar to Menma's with the only noticeable change being two beds instead of one, one of which was soon occupied by Karin. "Do you mind if you grab a book from the shelf?" She requested.

"Do you want me to read you a bedtime story?" Guren asked mockingly, only to receive a shaking of the head from her roommate.

"No. The book is about human anatomy." She explained. "I wasn't kidding about not being the weak chain of the team." She reminded Guren, who was browsing through the bookcase to look for the medical book.

She quickly found it and handed it to Karin and smirked while saying, "If you're genuine about improving, you'll earn my respect." She quickly left the room, leaving a Karin who was engrossed in her book.

* * *

"Ah!" Guren yelled out as she attempted to slash at Kyuubei with a blue crystal blade coming from her forearm, making use of her Shoton: Jade Crystal Blade. The sensei of Team 7 ducked under the blade of crystal but was surprised when Karin was close behind wind a chakra scalpel visible, gunning for her tendons of her sword arm.

But Kyuubei wasn't their sensei for a reason as she quickly moved back. Though Menma was quick to catch up to her, talons scraping her arm, cutting deeper than before due to wind coating them, increasing cutting edge a great deal.

"Give up sensei!" He said with slight sadism in his tone as he kept slashing at her with his talons. Kyuubei narrowed her eyes as she quickly unsheathed her sword and began matching his blows with her own.

"Got her!" Guren said as she attempted to slash at Kyuubei, but failed when she replaced herself with a log.

The students of the ex-samurai soon regrouped, back to back. "Where is she, Karin?" Menma asked as his eyes darted around, trying to find where their sensei was.

"Above us!" Karin informed as she sensed Kyuubei above them. They looked up to see her slashing down with her blade. Guren quickly responded, forming a crystal dome to protect them. The blade struck with a shockwave, causing cracks to form along the dome, but it prevailed.

Menma quickly acted upon the recovering jonin with a kick to the damaged dome, causing the top to shatter and the shards to make their way to Kyuubei.

She was still recovering from the shockwave strike when the shards began to come down. She managed to deflect most of them, though five of them managed to find themselves in her chest, causing her to cough up a small amount of blood.

She wasn't able to get a break as Menma soon followed the shards, giving her an ax kick to the ground. She was in a small crater when Menma came to the edge with his right stinger poised. "Alright, I give." She admitted defeat with a small sigh.

It had been roughly a month since their first spar and Kyuubei was amazed by the progress her team had made. Karin started to learn under Kabuto, obtaining knowledge about Iryojutsu, precise charka control, better then the kenjutsu focused sensei, and general healing.

Menma was able to properly focus his chakra, getting a decent grasp on chakra control for his chakra level. She wasn't sure how far he had gotten with sensing as he was being cagey about it for some reason.

Guren's training wasn't as extensive as the Uzumakis', primarily learning how to form her Shoton into different shapes and crystalizing moisture within the air.

All three of them were taught her personal style of taijutsu, relying on speed and overwhelming the enemy.

"Come on sensei," Menma said while he slid down the rim of the crater and offered a hand, showing that he had become close to her. He grunted as he helped the heavier woman up. "That isn't going to come out easily." Menma commented, pointing to the shards stuck in her chest.

Kyuubei looked down and began pulling one out, grunting slightly as it was removed. "Hold on." He said as he stretched tendrils out, activating his Curse Seal. The tendrils split off into four and attached to the remaining shards. They tugged simultaneously and removed the shards, letting them fall to the ground.

The wounds began leaking blood when Karin came to her side, with her hand glowing green. Kyuubei let the redhead touch her and the wounds soon sealed themselves.

"Good job you three." Kyuubei praised, earning a smile from Karin, and smirks from Menma and Guren.

"Why thank you m'lady." Menma sarcastically commented with a bow. "What's next for us?" He asked, causing Karin and Guren to look at her in anticipation.

"Since you three can hold your own against me, we'll be taking on some missions." She informed. "They'll be mostly bounties to cover Orochimaru founding Otokagure."

Menma shrugged at the reveal. "Fine with me. At least we'll be getting some fresh air...and blood." He commented casually. "When do we start?"

"We'll start next week. But for now, we relax and celebrate." She told them. The three kids nodded. "Let's inform Orochimaru first."

Menma groaned while Karin and Guren nodded. "Fine. Let's go see the pedophile." He relented as they began to leave the training ground.

They eventually ended up in Orochimaru's throne room, with said Sannin seated upon his throne. "Ah, Kyuubei-san! How does training go?" He asked.

"Team 7 is performing well." She informed with a bow. "I deem them ready for missions."

"Kukukuku! Excellent!" The snake summoner exclaimed. "You may take any missions you wish, but as you know, a percentage will be taken to fund Otokagure." He stated seriously, earning a nod from Kyuubei, though Menma rolled his eyes while Guren and Karin remained neutral.

"So where's dear old Kabuto-kun?" Menma asked. "He to sore to get out of bed?" He earned a smirk from Guren and a small giggle from Karin.

"For your information," Orochimaru told him with an edge present in his tone. "Kabuto has been sent to a different base. I recommend that you don't push your luck with me, Menma-kun." He motioned to the collar the clone had. "I hold your leash."

"Eh, whatever." He said while putting. "So can we leave? I need to take a shower."

"Very well. You are dismissed." Orochimaru informed. With that, the team returned to their living quarters, with the Sannin thinking, 'You are lucky you are a useful tool Menma-Kun. Otherwise, you wouldn't be standing.'


End file.
